Placebo Effects

Understanding the mechanisms in health and disease

Fabrizio Benedetti

The first ever book to describe placebo effects across the entire spectrum of medical conditions, assisting readers in understanding where, when, and how placebo effects occur

Each chapter includes key learning points, allowing individual chapters to be used for teaching purposes

Written by one of the few authorities in the field, providing a state of the art and comprehensive text on this phenomenon, and its scientific bases

Placebo Effects

Understanding the mechanisms in health and disease

Fabrizio Benedetti

Description

The placebo effect is one of the most widely used and familiar terms within science and medicine, yet it is not always clear just what we mean by a placebo effect.Though we might describe a placebo effect as being 'all in the mind', we now know that there is a genuine neurobiological basis to this phenomenon. In recent years our knowledge of the neural bases of the placebo effect has developed markedly, and we now have a far better understanding of how it can influence both the course of a disease and the response to therapy. This is the first book to critically review the mechanisms of placebo and placebo-related effects across all medical conditions, diseases, and therapeutic interventions. It describes the main psychological and biological mechanisms of
placebo responsiveness across the entire spectrum of medical disciplines. In addition, it looks at the clinical and ethical implications of administering placebos. Exhaustive in its coverage, and written by a world authority in the field, this is the definitive reference text to the placebo effect - one that will be essential for researchers and clinicians across a wide range of medical specialities.

Placebo Effects

Understanding the mechanisms in health and disease

Fabrizio Benedetti

Table of Contents

1. The traditional concept of placebo1.1. The origin of the placebo concept and methodology1.2. The placebo in clinical trials and medical practice2. A modern view of placebo and placebo-related effects2.1. What they are not2.2. What they are2.3. How they work2.4. Why they occur3. Pain3.1. Placebo analgesia3.2. Nocebo hyperalgesia4. Disorders of the nervous system4.1. Parkinson's disease4.2. Deep brain stimulation and emotional processing4.3. Migraine4.4. Sleep4.5. Neurological disorders with a few or no available data5. Mental and behavioural disorders5.1. Depression5.2. Anxiety5.3. Dementia5.4. Addiction5.5. Psychotherapy5.6.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder5.7. Mental disorders with no available data6. Immune and endocrine systems6.1. Immunity and hormone secretion are subject to psychosocial influences6.2. The immune system6.3. The endocrine system7. Cardiovascular and respiratory systems7.1. The cardiovascular system7.2. The respiratory system8. Gastrointestinal and genitourinary disorders8.1. Gastrointestinal disorders8.2. Genitourinary disorders9. Special medical conditions and therapeutic interventions9.1. Oncology9.2. Sports medicine and physiology9.3. Surgery9.4. Physical therapy9.5. Alternative and complementary therapies9.6. Patient-provider interaction9.7. Other conditions with no
available data10. Clinical-ethical implications and applications10.1. Assessing the effectiveness of new therapies10.2. Harnessing placebo and placebo-related effects in the clinic11. How to run a placebo study: a closer look into complex experimental designs11.1. What are we looking for?11.2. Many arms are better than two11.3. Investigating sequence effects and learning11.4. Comparing expected versus unexpected therapies

Placebo Effects

Understanding the mechanisms in health and disease

Fabrizio Benedetti

Author Information

Fabrizio Benedetti received the Medical Doctor (MD) degree in 1981 from the University of Turin Medical School. In 1984, he received a Silbert International Award from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). In the 1980s and 1990s, he worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA and was a visiting professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Texas in Dallas. He has been Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of Turin Medical School since 1999. He has been a member of the six-strong group on placebo of the Mind-Brain-Behavior Initiative at Harvard University, and a consultant for the Placebo Project at the US National Institute of Health. His current scientific interests are the placebo
effect across diseases, pain in dementia, and intraoperative neurophysiology for mapping the human brain.

Placebo Effects

Understanding the mechanisms in health and disease

Fabrizio Benedetti

Reviews and Awards

"Placebo Effects is a comprehensive monograph on placebo that appears at an auspicious time...It is difficult to identify weaknesses in this comprehensive and thoughtful volume...All physicians could learn much from this volume."--New England Journal of Medicine

"...an invaluable read for anyone involved with clinical trials and treatment in any way."--Journal of the Neurological Sciences

"Benedetti's book is a lucid and extensive review entrenched in the neurosicence of placebo research and heralding the importance of this area of study...Scholars and educators stand to benefit from Benedetti's excellent tome. The increasing prominence of placebo bodes well for the future of medical care, and Benedetti's book communicates the powerful and diverse healing potential of placebos."--PsycCRITIQUES

"...Benedetti is highly analytical in his approach and, at the same time, has the ability to explain complex matters so that they are easily understood. This book should be a must for all who struggle to make sense out of the intriguing phenomena we call placebo."--Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies